Trailblazing
Trailblazing (also known as Co-op) is a cooperative game mode in which two players attempt to clear an area of Haze-producing Fungus as fast as possible. All enemies in Trailblazing Co-op take 1 damage from each attack so every player can kill them in the same number of hits. Points are awarded for speed, collecting geodes (which are equally shared by the 2 chars), killing Mimics, and not getting hit, to produce a final score, which is ranked against the scores for each other pair which has completed that particular trail. Trails rotate on a weekly basis, with the top three teams at the end of each week being awarded a gold, silver, or bronze plaque. There are two maps, which change weekly, and Nidarian Guard subscribers also have access to a third map which also changes weekly. Currently, Maps are updated on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There are unique mimics that serve as boss of Co-op, which can either be a Fungeye, a Pillar Worm, Wereworm, Worm Serpent or a Rambeak. All but Fungeye are exclusive to Nidarian Guard Trails. Trailblazing is the only type of Co-op play at this time. You can send another player in town a Co-op request via the profile Co-Op button. You can view the Co-op mission highscores by viewing the board to the right of Driscoll. Participation Trailblazing is handled by Lieutenant Driscoll at the Co-op Barracks in Nidaria (just down the fireman's pole from the Main Dock. When talking to him, you can view the current high scores for each trail, along with best scores from previous weeks, or sign up for a particular trail. After signing up, you will be automatically paired with a partner, and dropped off at the trail start point. If you want a little more control over who you are paired with (say, you've just gone through a trail with one person and want to try again with them), you can instead click on a character and challenge them to a co-op game. If they accept, you will be dropped at the trail start point and proceed just the same as if you'd joined a queue and been automatically paired. The easiest way to accomplish this is to have your partner come to your float, or to go to your partner's float. Scores, Leaderboards, and Calculation of Points Points are calculated in individual categories as follows: Time: The score begins at 1000, and 1 point is deducted each second, starting from the moment that the players enter the Trailblazing mission at the drop point. Kills: 10 points per kill. This includes non-fungi enemies. Health: The score begins at 500, and 10 points are deducted each time a player is hit. Entering a trail at half HP (checkpoint heal) will still yield the same score as entering at full HP. Geodes: 1 point per geode. Based on the score you get, you are given a global ranking and a leaderboard position. Your global ranking is based on your score compared to other players scores. The top 10 scores are visible on the leaderboards in the Co-op Barracks. The top 3 scores at the end of the week are given Co-op Plaques. Only your top score with a single partner will be displayed on the leaderboard (multiple missions with the same person will not increase your presence on the leaderboards). General Strategy For the most part, Trailblazing is best accomplished when both players are able to avoid being hit by any enemies in all 5 rooms of a trail. This takes some practice, as Co op trails and Adventure Gameplay use similar but significantly different tactics. On the ground in adventure areas, Checkpoints are placed throughout the map. In Trailblazing, there is only one checkpoint, at the beginning of the trail. Should either player die, both players are sent back to the Checkpoint and any unclaimed Geodes in the room are lost. Mimics and most fungi do not respawn; the exception is a death while killing boss bulbs, dead bulbs respawn with 1 hit needed. Generally, both players should take different parts of each room to clear out by themselves. Having both players fighting the same enemy at the same time, with the exception of Sporeshells and some Haze Turrets, is a waste of one player's time, because he/she could kill a second enemy in the time it takes for his/her partner to kill the first enemy. Many rooms are organized so that this is possible, however, some may require one player to kill a Sporeshell or Haze Turret, when it may seem quicker to have both players attack either side. Finding out which enemies should be killed by one player and which should be killed by both is part of the challenge of every trail. Following your partner around usually won't get you high scores, but sometimes, there is no other choice. Be thorough. Enemies like Pidgeflies only have to be hit once, and count for 10 points. With points being subtracted literally every second, killing small and seemingly meaningless mimics can mean the difference between a high score and a low score. Some other general things to keep in mind: Shooting an enemy makes it invulnerable (pink) for 0.9 secs. While pink, most enemies will not hurt you. Shooting an enemy and passing through is a common technique for separating the partners and reaching goals on time. Shooting an enemy makes it invulnerable (pink) for 0.9 secs. Learn to shoot every 0.9 secs so you hit it just as the pink wears off. While the first target is pink, try to shoot something else. You can kill 2 mimics at the same time (3 as an Aeronaut) if you change targets while enemies are pink. NG Members' charge attacks do 2 damage. Rockethogs and NG bosses are immune to NG charge. Boss Tips Fungeye Fungeye is the only boss in the two non-Nidarian Guard trails. Fungeye has three tentacles, most frequently in a group of 2 and a group of 1. As long as these tentacles are alive, Fungeye will be invulnerable. When all three are killed, Fungeye can be attacked directly. These tentacles respawn periodically. It has no attack, but be warned that touching Fungeye will cause 1 damage every few seconds. Each of these counts as a hit, which deducts 10 points from your score. Avoid touching the eye if possible, including swinging into it, rolling into it, jumping into it, or divebombing it. While all of these attacks damage Fungeye, if your partner hits it first, you will pass through it while it is invincible, without doing any damage. This can cause you to be touching the eye when the invincibility wears off. Nidarian Guard Bosses All three bosses in Nidarian Guard trails are fought the same way. They are worm-like bosses that stand up, covering a large vertical area. Their only weak spot is their head. They move back and forth in a confined area, but will periodically move to new locations. Most of these locations place the head of the worm in easy reach of a platform, although some will place it in hard to reach or poorly defensible areas, such as near the ceiling. The worms do much more damage than Fungeye, in the range of 18 or so for players around level 30 with no spectra circuit. It will also spew Haze from both sides of each segment on its body, with the exception of its head. Try to stay off of the ground, where you are an easy target, and focus on moving with the worm, especially for Ferrics and Crags. Co-op Titles Here is a list of the description each of the co-op players can receive at the end of a coop: *'Wounded in Battle, Fallen Soldier': Died once during the match *'Frequent Casualty, Reckless Abandon': Died multiple times during the match *'Predator, In the Fray, Brawler, Most Aggressive': Landed 75% or more of the attacks on enemies *'Pacifist, Super Spectator, Moral Support': Landed 25% or less of the attacks on enemies *'King of KO, Finisher, Kill Grabber': Dealt the final hit to kill 75% or more of the enemies in the match *'KO Assist, Softener': Dealt the final hit to kill 25% or less of the enemies in the match *'Geode Gobbler, Geode Greed, Etherite Hoarder': Picked up 75% or more of the Etherite geodes *'Empty Pockets': Picked up 25% or less of the Etherite geodes *'Punching Bag, Battle Scars, Battered': Got hit more than 12 times *'Artful Dodger, Almost Unscathed': Got hit less than four times *'Invincible, Untouchable, Without a Scratch': Never got hit during the match *'Chatterbox, Talkative': Used chat more than 10 times *'Radio Silence, Mum's the Word, Speechless': Never chatted during the match There are various other descriptions (like "Best Dressed", "Co-op Champ", "Co-op Champion", "Team Player", "Classy Teammate", "First Rate", "Able Recruit", "Great Performance") that are used in case a player has earned fewer than three of the above. Related Links *Lieutenant Driscoll *Co-op Barracks *Nidarian Points *Etherite Geodes *Co op Plaques Category:Gameplay